Monday, October 3, 2011

Occupy Wall Street? No!

by Tom Wise

Let's be straight. The "protesters" in lower Manhattan who have become vagrants in the business district, and no more than that, are among the most pathetic of beings. Not only do they have no particular collective message, nor meaning in their lives, but they wish to infect all who they meet with this disease of the mind. If only they possessed the Hegelian dialectic so that we might uncover their deceit and use it against them. But - alas! - they are like blind protozoa, scurrying amid teeming pools of nutrition, with no eyes, no arms, and no central nervous system. We can learn nothing from them, and they will take away little from their experiences.

Ah, but who arrives to egg on these zombies? None other than the cultural elite, exiting limousines to deliver weighted speeches directly from method acting. It is to our eternal regret that we have not raised children keen enough to recognize that an actress in front of a captive audience is not the same as a motivational speaker. These Sarandons and Moores are sanctimonious hypocrites, lecturing the uneducated on matters of which it is well known they are ignorant. They are only slopping the hogs before going on to their next multi-million dollar project.

If in fact anyone cared for these disheveled and hopeless souls, it would be to offer them substantive work. But as it says in the Book of James, and I paraphrase, "Your prayers do not feed the hungry, and your hearty positivity does not shelter the homeless."

Extrapolating, is it truly surprising that bankers have turned out to be pure businessmen and not shown compassion? Apparently, demagoguery is effective, for this Occupy Wall Street crowd is under the impression that the purpose of a bank is to provide capital for lazy nitwits, then to forgive their debt as it becomes necessary or suits rabble-rousers. Surely, those who are "protesting" must realize that this protracted act of rebellion cannot possibly convert financiers into Santa Claus or George Bailey. Or have they so taken such leave of their senses that their mission is not to convince but to estimate some ability in themselves to topple a system in which they in fact have not a whit of talent? They cannot occupy a position at any firm, let alone occupy Wall Street!

Chaos. It might not be in the hearts of these disillusioned, but it is the desire of those who would see bankers "get theirs." Yet, those with such motive are not interested in the spare lives of these mere puppets, but have greater dreams of grandeur, such as establishing new world currencies. The irony is that the Occupy Wall Street-ers are only pawns in a great chess game between capitalism, communism, and fascism. If there were any logic to spare between them, those who occupy would become those who awaken. Perhaps actual conversations concerning individual success and what that means might take place within conclaves of self-interested and motivated, not to mention like-minded, beings. But we see that their despair has overtaken them, and not for poverty but for some concept of "fairness," as if the opportunity to attain is not available to every one of them.

On display is the worst type of idealism, cries for new economic and governmental frameworks which have already failed many times over - democracy (mob rule), socialism (mediocrity), communism (death), anarchy (a lie). It is as if history means nothing or never occurred. We should not, however, be surprised at this since these functional illiterates also cannot fathom that their "heroes" live as well or better than those they apparently oppose. If they cannot see through the Hollywood activist, how shall they know that their successful future is a gulag. Or do they truly believe that they will thrive when a strong leader comes to fill the power vacuum? Please....

And then there is Roseanne Barr, who projects her fear as violent fantasy. Her calls for guillotines against stubborn capitalists is not new but its openness leads one to believe that she is racing to the finish post, afraid that if she is not in charge of the beheading she will herself be a victim. But why so panicky, Ms. Barr? Can it be that your wealth is visible and you think that if you behave as the mob behaves it will save you? There again is a Tinseltown queen reciting her good Marxist lines while she counts her own off-shore savings. Please...

So, if anyone from Occupy Wall Street should be reading this, wise up. Your best strategy to wealth is not to take it, not to whine about it, not to congregate in a mass therapy session, and not to take the advice of actors and madmen. In fact, it is as it always has been - wealth is created by providing value, and having many customers who see that value. But if you take wealth by force, distribute it and spend it, where do you think it will end up? That's right - in the hands of the same people you claim to despise. You who must have an Apple iPhone or iPad, a Yamaha guitar, a Volkswagon, a Pepsi, a Snickers bar - you will have none of it because no one will produce value unless the system for profiting from value produced exists. You are therefore poor and silly children, tearing down the very structure that feeds, clothes, shelters, transports, communicates. Are you Amish? Are you technophobes? Are you nomads? What lifestyle are you aiming for? But whichever it is, I guarantee you that George Soros, Michael Moore, Van Jones and the rest are not going to live in a tent with you. Think about that.